Judge gets emotional after sentencing of cop attacker

Queens

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, April 24, 2014, 6:35 PM

Smith, Bryan, Freelance NYDN New York City Police Sgt. Timothy Smith is released from Bellevue Hospital following his recovery after being stabbed in the eye while responding to an emotionally disturbed man in January.

A queens judge sentenced the schizophrenic man who stabbed an NYPD officer to a 54 years-to-life prison term during an emotional proceeding Wednesday.

“No brother or sister of Sgt. Smith will ever knock on a door the same way again,” said Judge Barry Schwartz, before handing down the sentence to knife-wielding Neil Perreira.

“The case exemplifies the special responsibility that police officers assume in our service,” added Schwartz, his voice cracking. “Those of us that stand on the sidelines… cannot pretend to understand what it is like to be them.”

Neil Perreira is accused of stabbing NYPD Sgt. Timothy Smith in his eye & shoulder.

A jury convicted Perreira, 39, of attempted murder, aggravated assault and other charges in February following the stabbing of Sgt. Timothy Smith in the eye and chest. Two other officers were also injured after they responded to a distress call at Perreira’s Far Rockaway home in 2009.

Smith, who sat through the trial in a wheelchair, lost his left eye and suffered neurological damage from the attack.

No brother or sister of Sgt. Smith will ever knock on a door the same way again

Perreira declined to testify and showed little emotion, even as the prosecution lashed into him for telling a family member he was “still not guilty” in a recorded phone call made from Rikers Island a day after his conviction.

The prosecution played the largely inaudible tape as part of an argument that Perreira was affected not by his schizophrenia but his hatred of police. They cited his history of police assaults in New York City and Tennessee.

Sgt. Timothy Smith, stabbed in the eye by Neil Perreira. 2 cops who were injured while they wrestled the suspect down.

Prosecutors were joined by Peter Cacciatore and Daniel Sjoberg, two of the officers who responded to the Far Rockaway incident, in calling for the maximum sentence for Perreira.

More than 60 police officers, most in uniform, packed the courtroom and loudly cheered Smith and the verdict in the courthouse hallway.

“I’ll never forget the gruesome bloody scene I walked into that day,” said Cacciatore, who rendered first aid to Smith after the attack. “Sgt. Smith’s life changed forever, and all who responded, their lives have changed forever.”

erosenberg@nydailynews.com

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